This invention relates to a drive roller assembly of a veneer lathe for rotating a log, in which the drive roller assembly is formed on its outer periphery with a ring shaped member and adapted to be urgedly contacted at the outer periphery thereof with log to rotate the same. From another aspect, the invention relates to a veneer lathe including such drive roller assembly as above mentioned.
A drive roller assembly urgedly contacting the outer periphery of a log and rotating the same is disclosed in Japanese patent early laid-open publication No. 59-162011, in which metal pieces arranged on an abutting face of the roller assembly abuttable against the log are attached with an elastic ring, such as urethane rubber integrally molded with resin, to increase the coefficient of friction with respect to the outer periphery of the log and release the frictional heat.
Although this conventional device has such advantage as that no extraordinary large force is generated by virtue of elastic deformation of the elastic ring even when foreign matters such as cutting chips of the log enters between the log and the roller assembly during the cutting operation of the log, it has the shortcoming in that when a large force is applied to metal pieces each of which is buried and held in the elastic ring in the rotating direction of the roller assembly, the elastic ring, particularly the portion in which the metal piece is buried, is broken to permit the metal piece to come off, which makes it difficult to cut a log of the kind having a large cutting resistance and a thick veneer sheet.
Another device is disclosed in Japanese Patent publication No. 59-28163, which is especially intended to rotate a log of the type having a generally even periphery. This device has the shortcoming in that when foreign matter enters between the log and the roller assembly for rotating the log, an extraordinary force generated against the log and the roller assembly causes such problems as the log cracking, the chuck and the log slipping relative each other and breakage of the roller assembly.
The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned shortcomings inherent in the prior art.